Click a tile to open it, 'X' to close it or check the circles to create a custom PDF

India 2015: TOP 50 ANALYSIS | Brand Contribution

Leaders in brand strength cross multiple categories

Brand Contribution is a BrandZTM metric that indicates the proportion of sales and margin directly attributed to brand alone excluding all other factors. In other words, when the financial impact of the stock market, the economy and other external factors are stripped away, what’s left is Brand Contribution – the naked strength of the brand. Brand Contribution is calculated as an index of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score. (For a complete definition please see Methodology in the Resources section of the report.)

Brands with high Brand Contribution are more resilient and enduring. Among the BrandZTM global leaders in Brand Contribution are Pampers and Coca-Cola. In the BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking of Brand Contribution leaders, certain categories – personal care and luxury, for example – are especially well represented. Category representation varies, however, market-by-market.

The Top 10 Brand Contribution leaders of the BrandZTM India ranking includes these seven, mostly FMCG, product categories: paints, personal care, home care, lubricants, food and dairy, banks and alcohol. No individual category dominates in number of brands, although paints, home care, and food and dairy include two brands apiece.

This combination of categories distinguishes the Indian Brand Contribution ranking from those of other countries or regions, and their most represented categories, for example: China (food and dairy and technology); Latam (beer and retail); and Indonesia (food and dairy, real estate and tobacco). The presence of a bank brand in the Indian Brand Contribution Top 10 particularly differentiates India, as financial performance generally is the primary driver of brand value in the financial services category.

In addition, compared with other markets, the Indian Brand Contribution ranking reflects a more diverse mix of brand ownership models. Four brands are private Indian brands, either owned by individuals or an Indian conglomerate. Five are owned by multinationals and one is a State Owned Enterprise.

The brand strength of Lakme?, the personal care brand owned by Hindustan Unilever, has enabled the brand to successfully command a premium for the brand. The two paint brands, Berger Paints and Asian Paints, also have evolved with their customers, from stores selling paint to men, to modern showrooms for men and women seeking decoration solutions. Both paint brands are privately owned.

The two home care brands, Surf Excel and Rin, are detergents owned by Hindustan Unilever. Their high Brand Contribution illustrates the brand building capabilities of a multinational that, for both brands, successfully uses emotional appeal to sell a product based on functionality – cleaning clothes. Surf uses the line, “Dirt is Good,” meaning dirt happens when kids are engaged in life. Rin emphasizes the symbolic importance of clean clothes for positive self-image.

The food and dairy brand Saffola, a cooking oil owned by an Indian FMCG producer, has nurtured a clear brand proposition about promoting healthy living and the prevention of cardio- vascular disease. Horlicks, owned by UK-based GlaxoSmithKline, has been able to extend the popularity of its famous chocolate malt drink across its other food offering.

The Indian brand Castrol is among the country’s largest makers of industrial lubricants. It scores extremely high (236) in the BrandZTM metric Salient, a measurement of top of mind awareness. Indian consumers also see the brand as Meaningful and meeting their needs.

In its current incarnation, the State Bank of India has been around since the 1950s, but the original bank was established in 1806. The bank has been able to capitalize on that heritage and consumers view it as different from the competition, according to BrandZTM research. Indian consumers view McDowell’s as Different. A brand offering whiskey and other alcoholic drinks, McDowell’s has successfully extended its brand to introduce premium products. The Indian conglomerate United Spirits Limited owns McDowells.